Ed Sheeran
Hollywood Bowl
6/16/14

Last night Britpop singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran headlined the Hollywood Bowl. After coming onto the U.S. scene in recent years, his track “The A Team” won song of the year at the 2013 Grammys, and he was featured on a song from Taylor Swift's Red album. 

The 23 year-old “ginger Jesus” (as he's been called) took the Bowl stage following Andy Grammer, Colbie Caillat, and Demi Lovato, the latter of whom would figure into the night later. 
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Lovato's performance leaned more towards hard rock than the electro-pop that got her famous. She clearly put all of herself into her show; her voice wavered at times, but even more often she really belted it out. 

While Lovato had a whole band backing her up, Sheeran took the stage with nothing but a guitar and some looping equipment – a real one-man show. He opened with a ten minute version of “You Need Me, I Don't Need You,” complete with a freestyle rap midway through and plenty of intricate acoustic guitar riffs looped one on top of another. 

Sheeran barely stopped for breath, making sure the crowd didn't either. “Sing along, even if you have to make up the words,” he said. His second song, “Lego House,” felt a bit rushed, but as his set progressed both Ed and the crowd got into the groove.

By far the most Tweeted about moment of the night was when Sheeran brought Demi out for a duet of his heart-aching “Give Me Love.” The duo warned us that they “only practiced for five minutes in the dressing room,” and Lovato seemed unsure on a couple of lines, but by the end both performers were calling out the chorus with all the emotion it deserved. 

The Crowd: Screaming fangirls. 

Random notebook dump: Gavin DeGraw announced Sheeran's entry about five minutes too early. Then, the crowd mistook the pony-tailed mic check guy for the headliner. Awkward.

Set list:
You Need Me, I Don't Need You
Lego House
Don't
Be My Husband (Nina Simone Cover)
Thinking Out Loud
I See Fire
The A Team
Give Me Love (Duet with Demi Lovato)
Sing

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